1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. This October, Holly, 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,639 Speaker 1: you and I had a pretty exciting time on the 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: podcast because you came to visit me. I did. I 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: brought camera and sound people, you did. I mean it 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: sound like this was like just the trip for funzies, 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,239 Speaker 1: but no, it was a trip to basically go on 9 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: a video recording extravaganza field trip with two of our 10 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works video crew, Casey and Paul, and the 11 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,319 Speaker 1: four of us spent a lot of time over three 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: days interviewing people and recording videos and seeing amazing historical sites. Uh. 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: It was both fun and exhausting. Super exhausting, but super 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: uper fun. Yeah. I think even more exhausting for Casey 15 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: and Paul. They did so much of the heavy lifting 16 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,759 Speaker 1: by nature of being the video and sound people, as 17 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: both literally and figuratively, they did a lot of heavy lifting. Yes, yes, 18 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: you and I helped carry whenever we could, but you know, 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: we can't be in front of the camera and also 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: holding it. That doesn't really work with our setup. So 21 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: the first stop that we made was at the Royal 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: House and slave Quarters in Medford, Massachusetts, and the Royal 23 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: House was home to Isaac Royal and his family during 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,279 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century, and the Royals were the largest slave 25 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: ownly slave owning family in Massachusetts, and they had an 26 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: enslaved workforce both at their Medford home and on sugar 27 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: plantations in Antiguo, which is a big part of how 28 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: the Royals made all that money. There is already a 29 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: video on our website that tells more of the story 30 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: of the Royals and their enslaved worked workforce and how 31 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: those lives intertwined together on the property, and we're going 32 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: to put a link to it in the show notes 33 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: and on our social media and all of that kind 34 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: of stuff when this episode comes out. There are also 35 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: of more videos already out and coming soon from that trip, 36 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: which we are really excited about and will also be 37 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 1: sharing on our website and social media um as those 38 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: are ready. Today's episode of the podcast is also inspired 39 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: by our trip to the Royal House Museum. There's a 40 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: lot that we don't know about the people who were 41 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: enslaved when it was still a home, and there's documentation 42 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: for about sixty enslaved people over two generations of royal 43 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: ownership there on the Massachusetts property, but the actual number 44 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: was probably quite a lot higher. One enslaved woman in 45 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: particular stands out, Belinda Sutton, who successfully petitioned for compensation 46 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: for her years of enslaved labor on the royal property. 47 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: And by the time Belinda petition for compensation, the Royal 48 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: family was already incredibly wealthy. And just for clarity, I 49 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: feel like we should point out that when we say 50 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: the Royals again, it's our O Y A L L. 51 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: It's a proper name. Even though you mentioned that his 52 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,639 Speaker 1: name was Isaac Royal. We just want to make entirely 53 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: clear they were not actual royalty. Uh. And this family 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: was by this point incredibly wealthy, but they did not 55 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: start out incredibly wealthy. Isaac Royal Senior born sixteen seventy 56 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: two came from a New England family of relatively modest means, 57 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: but that changed after he purchased a sugar plantation in Antigua. 58 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: This was during the era of the Triangle trade, that 59 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: interconnected trading system that relied on enslaved Africans crops like 60 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: sugar and cotton, and products made from those crops like 61 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: rum and cloth. By trading mainly in rum, sugar, and 62 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: enslaved Africans, Isaac Royal Senior became very wealthy. It's a 63 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: common misperception that in North America only the southern economy 64 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: relied on slavery, but in reality, a lot of the 65 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: wealth in New England and other the other orderly areas 66 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: was connected directly to the slave trade and on industries 67 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: that relied on slave labor. For a time, the royal 68 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: family actually lived in Antigua, but in seventeen thirty seven, 69 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: Isaac Sr. Decided to relocate back to New England, and 70 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: his reasons for doing so were not specifically recorded, but 71 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: we do know that the year before, a series of 72 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,359 Speaker 1: gruesome executions had been carried out on Antigua in response 73 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: to the threat of a slave revolt. Whether this revolt 74 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: really was in the works continues to be the subject 75 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: of some historical debate, and it certainly would not have 76 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: been the first occurrence of a slave resistance effort on 77 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: the island. If it was. An enslaved man known as 78 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: Prince Class confessed to having planned a massive uprising that 79 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: would not only have overthrown the island's planters, but also 80 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: would have massacred its white population. However, there isn't much 81 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: physical evidence to support the idea that such a vast 82 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: uprising was really imminent, so while some historians are completely 83 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: convinced that it was, others suspect that the white slave 84 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: owners and the court, who were vastly outnumbered by the 85 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: island's enslaved population, exaggerated what was actually a much smaller threat, 86 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: possibly as a product of their own fear. The executions, however, 87 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: were definitely real, with five people being broken on a wheel, 88 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: six gibbeted, and seventy seven burned at the stake. One 89 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: of the royals enslaved overseers was among those burned at 90 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: the stake, and another was reprieved at the stake in 91 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: exchange for information he had so it. While it's not 92 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: written down anywhere exactly what prompted them to go back 93 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: to New England, it's pretty reasonable to suspect that the 94 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: Royals went back because they feared for their safety. To 95 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: prepare for the family's arrival back in Massachusetts, Isaac Royal 96 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: Senior bought a piece of property Medford just called ten 97 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: Hills Farm, and this was a five hundred acre property 98 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: that housed a colonial farmhouse, which was expanded into a 99 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: three story Georgian mansion. Along with barnes and other outbuildings. 100 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: There was also a slave quarters, which still stands today 101 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: and is the only freestanding slave housing still left in 102 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: the North. The structure that became the slave quarters started 103 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: out as an out kitchen or a separate kitchen that 104 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: would allow people to cook in hot weather without heating 105 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: up the house, and that was standing before the rest 106 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: of the quarters were added onto it. The museum on 107 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: the property to today includes both the mansion and the 108 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: slave quarters, and when the royals took up residence there 109 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: at ten Hills Farm, they had at least twenty seven 110 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: enslaved Africans with them. Isaac Sr. Died in seventeen thirty nine, 111 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: and Isaac Jr. One of his two surviving children, inherited 112 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: most of the estate. At this point, the Royals were 113 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: one of the wealthiest families in Massachusetts, and Isaac Junior 114 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: and his wife Elizabeth were very prominent in society, living 115 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: a life of absolute luxury and holding lavish parties, and 116 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: for Isaac's part, also holding public office. With the approach 117 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: of the Revolutionary War, Isaac Junior fled Massachusetts, leaving his mansion, 118 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: most of his physical property, and more than twenty enslaved 119 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: people behind. Apparently he had some sympathies with the cause 120 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: for independence, but he also had a lot of financial 121 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: reasons to stay loyal to the Crown. He tried to 122 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: get passage back to Antigua, but he couldn't, and instead 123 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: he went to Nova Scotia just before the Battle of 124 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: Lexington in seventeen seventy five. A year later, he joined 125 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: his daughter's families in England, and he died there of 126 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: smallpox in seventeen eighty one. In his will, Isaac Junior 127 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: left money to Harvard, which was used to endow the 128 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: university's first law professorship. The Shield of Harvard Law School 129 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: was for this reason originally modeled after the Royal Family 130 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: Code of Arms. The Royal Professorship still exists, but the 131 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: Law school agreed to retire the shield and replace it 132 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: with a new one in March, and as part of 133 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,239 Speaker 1: the same protests that led to this decision, students actually 134 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: also occupied a lounge on campus and renamed it Belinda 135 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,119 Speaker 1: Hall after Belinda's sutton Who will we will be talking 136 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: more about in a moment. Basically, now is the moment 137 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: that we will be talking more about her. The moment 138 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: has arrived. Uh. Belinda was mentioned in Isaac Jr's will 139 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,839 Speaker 1: as well, saying quote, I do also give unto my 140 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: said daughter, my negro woman, Belinda, in case she does 141 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: not choose her freedom. If she does choose her freedom, 142 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: to have it, provided that she gets security that she 143 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,359 Speaker 1: shall not be a charge to the town of Medford. 144 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: And he also instructed his executor to pay Belinda thirty 145 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: pounds for three years. However, by the time of his death, 146 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: Isaac Junior actually no longer had a lot of his 147 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: property in Massachusetts. A lot of it had been confiscated 148 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: during the war, and some of the people who had 149 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: been slave there had been enslaved there had been freed, 150 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: and others had been sold elsewhere. And later documents, Belinda, 151 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: who was referenced in his will, is called Belinda Sutton 152 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,319 Speaker 1: a widow, but we don't actually know who her husband 153 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: was or when she married him. Some of the earliest 154 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,839 Speaker 1: documents that referenced her present her last name is Royal. 155 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: But it was common for enslaved people to be given 156 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: their owners surnames. Belinda had at least two children, a 157 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: son named Joseph and a daughter. We're guessing on the 158 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: pronunciation of whether it's prime or prime E, but it's 159 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: p R I n E, who were baptized in Medford 160 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: in seventeen sixty eight, and it appears that her son 161 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: was sold away from her, possibly at the same time 162 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: that she was freed. Although the Commonwealth did manument Belinda 163 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: along with at least some of the other people who 164 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: were confiscated from the royal estate, and they didn't really 165 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: make provisions for her her survival afterward, and we will 166 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: talk about that led to her petition after a quick 167 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: word from a sponsor. When Belinda was freed, she and 168 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: her daughter made their way to Boston to try to 169 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: start a new life among the free black people living there. 170 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: But by this point Belinda was elderly and her daughter 171 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: was also not well. Because she had spent most of 172 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: her life working for no pay, Belinda had essentially nothing 173 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: to live on and no way to support herself and 174 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: her daughter. On February fourteen eighty three, Belinda presented a 175 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: petition to the Massachusetts General Court. It began quote Commonwealth 176 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: of Massachusetts to the Honorable the Senate and House of 177 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,559 Speaker 1: Representatives in General Court assembled the petition of Belinda and 178 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: African humbly shows that seventy years have rolled away since 179 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: she on the banks of the Rio de Volta received 180 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,559 Speaker 1: her existence. The mountain covered with spicy forests, the valleys 181 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: loaded with the richest fruits spontaneously produced. Joined to that 182 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: happy temperature of air to exclude excess, would have yielded 183 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: her the most complete felicity, had not her mind received 184 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: early impressions of the cruelty of men whose faces were 185 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: like the moon, and whose bows and arrows were like 186 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: the thunder and the lightning of the clouds. The Rio 187 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: de Volta is what's called the Volta River today and 188 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: what was at that point known as the Gold Coasts, 189 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: and it's now Ghana. That was where Belinda had lived 190 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: until about the age of twelve, where as she described 191 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: in the petition, she was in a sacred grove with 192 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: her parents, paying devotions to Arica and quote an armed 193 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: band of white men, driving many of her countrymen in chains, 194 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: ran into the hallowed shade. Referring to herself in the 195 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: third person, she goes on quote, she was ravished from 196 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: the bosom of her country from the arms of her friends, 197 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: while the advanced age of her parents, rendering them unfit 198 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: for servitude, cruelly separated her from them forever. After she 199 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: describes her passage across the Atlantic and her arrival on 200 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: a new continent, she states that she worked for fifty 201 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: years for Isaac Royal until after the war, before concluding quote, 202 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: the face of your petitioner is now marked with the 203 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,839 Speaker 1: furrows of time, and her frame feebly bending under the 204 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: oppression of years, while she, by laws of the land, 205 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: is denied the enjoyment of one morsel of that immense wealth, 206 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: a part whereof has been accumulated by her own industry, 207 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: and the whole augmented by her servitude. Wherefore, casting herself 208 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: at the feet of your honors as to a body 209 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: of men formed for the extirpation of vassalage, for the 210 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,479 Speaker 1: reward of virtue and the just return of honest industry. 211 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,319 Speaker 1: She plus she praised that such allowance maybe made her 212 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: out of the estate of Colonel Royal as well prevent 213 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: her and her more infirmed daughter from misery and the 214 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: greatest extreme and scatter comfort over the short and downward 215 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: path of their lives, and she will ever pray so. 216 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: In five paragraphs, Belinda describes her childhood and Ghana, her capture, 217 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: the middle Passage, her arrival, and the fact that she 218 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: spent most of her life helping to build the wealth 219 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: of the royal family, when she herself was not allowed 220 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: any portion of that wealth or even to own any property. 221 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,839 Speaker 1: And she ends by asking for reparations, a payment of 222 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,719 Speaker 1: damages for having been wronged, specifically to be taken out 223 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: of the estate of the man she worked for without 224 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: being compensated for all that time. Some of the petitions 225 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:50,359 Speaker 1: passages aren't necessarily meant to be read completely literally. For example, 226 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: the word oricha is yuriba, and it's a word that 227 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: means deity, But Yoruba was spoken a little farther west 228 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: than the Old Coast, where Belinda would have been from, 229 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: so it's not entirely clear where Belinda or perhaps the 230 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: person who helped her write this petition might have learned 231 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: it or how they might have used it. The description 232 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: of Belinda's capture also specifies that her captors were white. However, 233 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: it's far more likely that she was initially captured by 234 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: other Africans. Further, Inland before being taken to the coast 235 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: and sold to white slave traders. You can learn more 236 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: about this aspect of the slave trade in our past 237 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 1: podcasts on Dahomey and the Royal Palaces of a Beaumi. 238 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: Describing her abductors as white may have been an intentional 239 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: effort to appeal to the moral sensibilities of the white judges, 240 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: or to resist attempts to shift the blame for slavery 241 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: onto Africans who captured the slaves rather than on the 242 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: Europeans who created the demand for them. You will still 243 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: see people trying to make this argument on the Internet today. 244 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: Most likely Belinda herself was illiterate. Her signature on this 245 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: and their petitions as an x and her most likely 246 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: assistant in creating this petition was a man named Prince Hall. 247 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: He had been enslaved from birth around seventeen thirty five, 248 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: and then he had been freed in seventeen seventy. After 249 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: becoming freed, he became an activist and an abolitionist in Boston, 250 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: where he was also the founder of an African Masonic lodge. 251 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: He helped author at least two petitions for a general 252 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: manumission in Massachusetts, and we will talk a little bit 253 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: more about these other petitions that were also presented during 254 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: Belinda's life and around the same time a little bit 255 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: later in the show. Belinda's petition also quickly became part 256 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: of a growing body of anti slavery literature. Quaker abolitionists 257 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: distributed copies, and the New Jersey Gazette reprinted it in 258 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: its entirety on June eighteenth of seventeen eighty three. Soon 259 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: this petition was being reprinted in other newspapers and anti 260 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: slavery journals on both sides of the Atlantic. In at 261 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: least one British case, there were quite a number of 262 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: creative liberties, basically rewriting this legal petition into a slave 263 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: narrative in the first person. In terms of the ruling, 264 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,840 Speaker 1: Belinda's petition was successful. In seventeen eighty three. The court 265 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: awarded her and her daughter an annual pension of fifteen 266 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: pounds twelve shillings, to be paid out of the profits 267 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: of the royal estate. However, the estate only paid this 268 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: pension for a year and then ignored Belinda's repeated requests 269 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: for it. In seventeen eighty seven, Belinda went back to 270 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: court to try to force the Royal estate to pay 271 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: the pension as ordered, and the court once again found 272 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: in her favor. The estate did make its payments for 273 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: three years before stopping again, leading Belinda back to court 274 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety and after payments stopped once again, she 275 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 1: had to submit yet another petition in seventeen ninety three, 276 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: and once again the ruling was in her favor. From there, 277 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: there's really no record of her until Willis Hall, who 278 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: had been the executor of Isaac Royal Junior's estate, requested 279 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: that he be granted the rest of the money in 280 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: the state treasury, saying, quote to family servants who were 281 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: left behind end quote, had then died. Presumably one of 282 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: the people he is talking about was Belinda, and that 283 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:21,119 Speaker 1: was in Belinda's petition was by far not the first 284 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: nor the only petition connected to slavery to be presented 285 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts courts. As we mentioned just a moment ago, 286 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk more about this topic after 287 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: we first paused for a word from one of our 288 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: fantastic sponsors. Belinda's petition was part of ongoing legal efforts 289 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: of enslaved and formally enslaved people to advocate for themselves 290 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: through Massachusetts courts. A lot of these were petitions for freedom. 291 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: There were enough of those that there are definitely sources 292 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: that mr report Belinda's petition as being one for her freedom, 293 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: which it was not. The anti slavery petitions Massachusetts Data 294 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: Verse at Harvard has a huge collection of anti slavery 295 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 1: and anti segregation documents, including Belinda's petitions online. As early 296 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: as seventeen seventy individual enslaved people in Massachusetts were suing 297 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: their owners in court for their own freedom, or for 298 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 1: compensation for their labor, or for both, and some of 299 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: these suits were in fact successful. Petitions for general freedom 300 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: for all people enslaved in Massachusetts started before the Revolutionary 301 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: War as well. Enslaved people submitted six different petitions for 302 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: general emancipation between seventeen seventy three and seventeen seventy seven alone. 303 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: Prince Hall, who probably helped Belinda craft her petition, had 304 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: submitted two of these in the late seventeen seventies, asking 305 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: for a general emancipation, protection against being kidnapped back into slavery, 306 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: financial help for former slaves who wanted to settle in Africa, 307 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: and public education access for blacks students. Many of these 308 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: early petitions were connected directly to the language the Patriot 309 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: Cause was using to frame the Revolutionary War and the 310 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 1: wish for the colonies to be freed from British rule. 311 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: They called on the course to recognize that the inalienable 312 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: right to freedom was not limited only to white people. 313 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: These seventeen seventies petitions prompted one bill to abolish slavery 314 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts, although it was ultimately unsuccessful. Some of the 315 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: petitions also drew from the Bible, citing Old Testament passages 316 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: requiring the freedom of the freeing of slaves every seven years, 317 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 1: with those freed slaves being compensated. In one case, petitioners 318 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: submitted a pamphlet by James Swann, who was a member 319 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: of the Sons of Liberty and a participant in the 320 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: Boston Tea Party, which attacked slavery from numerous angles, including 321 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: the biblical one. It's possible that Belinda's petition was patterned 322 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: after or inspired by the petition of Anthony Vassal of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 323 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: He had submitted a petition in sevent in eighty one 324 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,919 Speaker 1: requesting the title to land owned by his former owner, 325 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: John Bassel as compensation for his years of unpaid labor 326 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: before being enslaved under John Bassell. Anthony and his wife 327 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: had lived in Medford, where they had been owned by 328 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: Isaac Royal Jr's sister, Penelope Vassel. John Bassel was a 329 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,400 Speaker 1: loyalist who had been exiled and whose estate had been confiscated, 330 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: and Anthony successfully argued that he was owed reparations for 331 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: having worked on that land where his wife and their 332 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 1: children had also been enslaved. Although he wasn't awarded the 333 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: title to the land that he asked for, he was 334 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: granted an annual pension of twelve pounds out of the 335 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,400 Speaker 1: proceeds of the estate. It was in fact court rulings 336 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: that would eventually end slavery in Massachusetts. In seventeen eighty one, 337 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Freeman, then known as Mom Bett, successfully sued her 338 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: owner for freedom under the grounds that the newly adopted 339 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: Massachusetts Constitution forbade it in article one quote, all men 340 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: are born free and equal and have certain natural, essential, 341 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right 342 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, that of acquiring, possessing, 343 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: and protecting property in fine that of seeking and obtaining 344 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 1: their safety and happiness. That same year, an enslaved man 345 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: known as Walker escaped from Nathaniel Jennison, and when Jennison 346 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: found Walker, he beat him, leading Walker to sue him 347 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: for assault and battery. This led to a series of countersuits, 348 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: ending with Commonwealth versus Jennison in seventeen eighty three. During 349 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: the instructions to the jury, Chief Justice Cushing stated, quote, 350 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 1: and upon this ground, our constitution of government, by which 351 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: the people of the of this Commonwealth have solemnly bound themselves, 352 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: sets out with declaring that all men are born free 353 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: and equal, and that every subject is entitled to liberty 354 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: and to have it guarded by the laws, as well 355 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 1: as life and property. And in short, is totally repugnant 356 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: to the idea of being born slaves. This being the case, 357 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: I think the idea of slavery is inconsistent with our 358 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: own conduct and constitution. There can be no such thing 359 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: as perpetual servitude of a rational creature unless his liberty 360 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:20,640 Speaker 1: is forfeited by some critical criminal conduct, or given up 361 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: by personal consent or contract. Commonwealth versus. Jennison effectively ended 362 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,160 Speaker 1: slavery in Massachusetts, although there continued to be some people 363 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,199 Speaker 1: enslave for some time afterward, particularly under the guise of 364 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 1: indentured servitude that as Belinda's petition. There are a lot 365 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: of people and articles that describe Belinda's first petition as 366 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: the first petition for for reparations for slavery to exist 367 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: in the United States. I think that's a little uh oversimplified, 368 00:22:54,520 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: not two fault anybody in that. A lot of these petitions, UM, 369 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 1: we're really difficult to access until that big Harvard database 370 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: that we talked about a little bit earlier was online 371 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 1: and it became a lot easier to search through them. Uh. 372 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: It made those documents a lot more accessible to people. Um. 373 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: But Belinda's petition definitely is part of a much greater 374 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: legal effort that was ongoing in Massachusetts for years, um 375 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: to try to, at least on an individual basis, compensate some, 376 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: uh some previously enslaved people for basically the damage that 377 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: was done to them by having them be part of 378 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: building their owner's wealth while forbidden to to you know, 379 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: accumulate any wealth or possessions of their own. How's the 380 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: listener mail looking this time around. I've got some listener mail. 381 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: This is from Christina and it adds a little bit 382 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: of information to our recent podcast on the Dakota War 383 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: and the white Stone Hill Massacre. And she said, as 384 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:02,679 Speaker 1: I started listening to your podcast this summer, and I 385 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 1: adore them. I was excited to listen to your recent 386 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: podcast on the Dakota War of eighteen sixty two as 387 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 1: I finished writing a novel on that last year. As 388 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: I'm sure you know from your research, the topic is 389 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:18,239 Speaker 1: both interesting and emotionally difficult to study. The brutalities on 390 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: both sides were hard to stomach. Twenty three counties in 391 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:27,119 Speaker 1: Minnesota were virtually depopulated. Up to three hundred Dakota died 392 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: at Fort Snelling that winter, and six thousand were removed 393 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: from Minnesota permanently. Some estimates as to the death toll 394 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 1: of the war range as high as eight hundred civilians. 395 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: The most civilians killed on American soil as the result 396 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: of hostile action only exceeded by nine eleven. I was 397 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: also able to visit southern Minnesota this year, including New 398 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: Olm and the ruins of Fort Ridgeley. There's a monument 399 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: there to the fort civilian defenders, including several women who 400 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: ran into the thick of battle to collect spent bullets 401 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: to melt down and make more The fact the hundreds 402 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: of civilians and soldiers survived almost two weeks in a 403 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,240 Speaker 1: fort that originally did not even have a wall surrounding 404 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,880 Speaker 1: the buildings is incredible. My book focused on the stories 405 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: of heroism from both settlers and the Dakota. Many of 406 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 1: the Peace Party were Christian and lived quote in civilization 407 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: before the war, meaning that they lived like the white settlers. 408 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: They were scornfully referred to as quote cut hairs by 409 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: other tribe members and were forced to join the uprising 410 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: under threat of death. These peaceful Dakota sheltered captives, led 411 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: other captives to freedom, and fought with the White soldiers 412 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: against the War Party. If you want more information from 413 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: the Dakota side of things, I highly recommend through Dakota 414 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: Eyes Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of eighteen 415 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:51,399 Speaker 1: sixty two, edited by Gary Clayton Anderson and Alan Are Woolworth. 416 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: And So I appreciate your dedication to sharing your love 417 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 1: and knowledge of history to all your listeners. My goal 418 00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: in writing is to put the story back into history, 419 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: and you ladies display that perfectly in your podcasts, and 420 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: then she sends a couple of podcast ideas. Thank you 421 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: so much, Christina. I will see if I can find 422 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: a link to where folks can find that book, and 423 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,639 Speaker 1: I will put a link to it in our show notes. 424 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 425 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: or any other podcast, we are at history podcast at 426 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. We're also on Facebook at 427 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: Facebook dot com slash miss in history and on Twitter 428 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: at miss in History. Are tumbler is missed in History 429 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: dot tumbler dot com, and we are also on Pinterest 430 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: and Instagram at missed in History. 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